Embrace this place, Oh Lord
How we want to see Your glory
Embrace this place, Oh Lord
How we long to feel Your Spirit
Lord we sing so You can hear it
And receive all the praise

Draw us near to Your heart, Oh God
Let us rest our heads on Your chest
Place our hands in Yours, Oh Lord
Hold us face to face
Embrace this place

It's been a while since I have heard this song, and what a wonderful prayer it is. An intimacy that we all desire with the Lord, that we long to rest our heads on His chest, have Him hold our hands, or hold us by the face and look deeply into our eyes, into the soul He created. As a woman who desires security, there could not be a safer place to rest. But that is the difficult task...resting in that place.

This morning in church Matt spoke on the 9 pastoral prayers that make up the basis of our church and his teachings. All prayers spoke out to me clearly, but one in particular grabbed my heart. "That we would recognize that God has purposefully placed us here--at this time, in this place--for his glory." It references Acts 17:26 "And He made made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place". I have always espoused the idea that God is not particularly concerned with the minor things: that I would continue to be in the will of God regardless of whether I was in Austin, Houston, or Dallas. That the specific job I chose or apartment I lived in were not major things He was concerned with, but rather that He was simply concerned with where my heart was, and that I lived a life desiring His glory first. Though in some regards I continue to believe this is true, I have found that I swing the pendulum too far in that direction, and Acts 17 brings me back. In His omnipotent foreknowledge, God knew that at this very moment I would sit in the living room of my apartment at 7750 Walnut Hill beside my neighbor Merrick. That I would take a job in Dallas and work in an office with Krista and Chris at 1700 Pacific. That I would spend a refreshing weekend with a kindred spirit. That I would run into Shannon at the mall in a moment that would overwhelm me to see her. The list could continue on. He has determined the allotted period of time for me, my particular dwelling place. My life is not a series of coincidences and random chances, but a predestined pathway.

Even through my current discomfort, Jesus says "You belong right here, right now." My sinful, free-will self will certainly step outside of the life God has for me, but He says I am purposefully and intentionally exactly where I need to be. I am a child under mercy. May we always experience a holy discontentment with where our lives are, rest in His sovereignty over them, and continue to hold fast to the hope of what our lives can, and one day will, be.

Embrace this place, Oh Lord. How we long to see your glory.